Indiana Pacers: 4 former players that would have helped this season

Thad Young would have lifted the defense even more

Thad Young joined the Pacers one year before Paul George demanded out and quickly became the defensive star of the team. Assigned to the most challenging of defensive assignments, he would never shy away from taking on someone like LeBron James in the playoffs when the Pacers sorely needed someone who could help limit oppositional points.

Young was never an offensive star with the Pacers, but averaged over 10 points per game in his time with the team. He could hold his own on both ends.

Young’s role has been filled to some degree by players like Justin Holiday, but Thad provided the athletic lock-down defense in the starting unit that has yet to be filled by any other player.

T.J. Warren has shown growth on that end but has not yet ascended to the point of being the team’s primary option on defense, though he does have that kind of ceiling if he keeps working at it.

Indiana rolled out the 7th best defense in the NBA this year, but Thad Young would have helped them get that to top-5.

It’s hard to imagine what the starting lineup might look like with Young. But in this scenario, on the tail-end of his career, maybe he’d be OK coming off the bench for a competitive team.